Sunday, February 15, 2009

"We are deeply disappointed by the decision of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) denying Shahar Peer a Visa that would permit her to enter the country to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Ms. Peer has earned the right to play in the tournament and it is regrettable that the UAE is denying her this right. Following various consultations, the Tour has decided to allow the tournament to continue to be played this week, pending further review by the Tour’s Board of Directors. Ms. Peer and her family are obviously extremely upset and disappointed by the decision of the UAE and its impact on her personally and professionally, and the Tour is reviewing appropriate remedies for Ms. Peer and also will review appropriate future actions with regard to the future of the Dubai tournament. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour believes very strongly, and has a clear rule and policy, that no host country should deny a player the right to compete at a tournament for which she has qualified by ranking."--Larry Scott

Something tells me Scott isn't going to do jack. Like he's going to mess with all that money.

On the Dubai Tennis championship website at the the very top, the glowing inditement of tennis…Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Mahktoum, Vice President & Prime Minster of the U.A.E. and Ruler of Dubai.

BARCLAYS part owned by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is a member of the Royal family of Abu Dhabi in the U.A.E. his brother is the President of U.A.E. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

It's wrong, and the WTA should do something like suspend the entire tournament. If the UAE were refusing the visas of Americans you damn well better believe the WTA wouldn't stand for it, neither would most of the players. Just because Shahar Peer isn't the most known entity (outside of knowledgeable tennis circles) doesn't mean she deserves less justice. The WTA / Larry Scott should stand up for her.

This was an issue before the WTA accepted all the money from the UAE and Larry Scott yawned over the details. Anyway, I know this is a very unpopular viewpoint on this site, but I stand with the UAE against Shahar. She reps for Israel and after all the acts of criminality committed by Israel against the Palestinians and their latest attack on Gaza, I think the world should unite against Israel. I wish her well for the rest of the year.

brooklyn1006, immaterial of what one's stand is on the Israel/Palestine issue (and I agree with you mostly), it is completely indefensible from my POV to prevent Shahar from competing in Dubai. She is not responsible for the actions of her government, and as a member of the WTA, one of her basic rights should be that she can play anywhere where her ranking allows her to. Plain and simple.

brooklyn1006, you don't know very much about middle east conflict, do you?

I suggest you learn something before deciding who are the criminals. You seem to be siding with Hamas in their war against Jews, who are basically a franchise of Al Qaeda.

UAE is a disgusting country. They actually ban books there simply because the book has a character who is gay. Incidentally, Israel is the only country in the middle east where gay rights exist.

Now, I don't know whether you are gay or not, a women or not, or a Christian or Bahai etc. But whatever minority or religious group you might be part of, unless you are part of an Islamist Terror organisation (and even then...), you'll have more rights in Israel than in Dubai or any other Middle Eastern country.

So, while you're thinking about that, think about this: UAE has the largest carbon footprint per capita in the whole world. They even have an indoor snow-skiing centre where the outside climate is an extremely hot desert. Israel, on the other hand, is at the forefront of environmental technology.

So whatever way you look at things, it's clear who the real criminals are.

I'm a programmer. Programmers have a tradition of helping each other via internet sites and discussion forums. Anyone is welcome, and participants are from all over the globe.

I recall when the Irag war started, a programmer from somewhere in the middle east added a footer to his post making a political statement about the war. Someone from North America responded, saying that this was a very charged time, so perhaps we should avoid political statements. The first guy agreed and apologized.

And that was it. We continued, as always, to work together. We respected our community. I humbly suggest we do the same.

Regardless of what you feel about the rights granted to minority citizens of Middle Eastern countries, there are criminals on both sides of this conflict. It takes two to tango. Israel is often given a pass for its crimes, especially from the United States. We don't call it our 51st state for nothing.

That said, Shahar Pe'er is not Israel any more than I'm the United States. The WTA has rules in place. They are allowing a nation to break those rules.

And for what?

Money. Period.

The WTA is supposed to be a union for the PLAYERS not for the coffers of those who run the thing and certainly not for rich nations.

It would be nice if the players, who all seem to love the amenities an the money the UAE throws at them when they arrive in Dubai, would band together and simply refuse to participate in the event.

But I ain't holding my breath.

And Dubai isn't the only event where a player has been denied a visa for political reasons. No event should be able to get away with it.

On that very subject, I learned something interesting just last evening. The best way to get attention is to hand write your letter, rather than send an e-mail or type-written letter. The reason? A hand-written letter is a one-off; whereas an e-mail or typed letter can be mass-produced.